Two found dead in rubble believed to be missing men

NEW YORK -- Two bodies were found Sunday amid rubble from the Manhattan apartment building collapse three days earlier, and authorities said everyone was accounted for after the apparent gas explosion that caused a massive fire, leveled three buildings and damaged a fourth.

Authorities had been looking for signs of two missing men since Thursday's explosion in which 22 people were injured, four critically. Officials suspect someone may have improperly tapped a gas line serving one of the buildings.

During their search, authorities said they believed the missing men had been in a ground-floor sushi restaurant at the time of the explosion. Moises Lucon, 26, worked at the restaurant, and 23-year-old Nicholas Figueroa, a bowling alley worker, had been there on a date.

Fire commissioner Daniel Nigro said the families of the two men had been notified.

"We have removed over 1,000 cubic yards of debris, and we're not finished yet, so we will remain on the scene a few more days to accomplish that task," Nigro said.

The names of the two dead were not released immediately, pending positive identification by a medical examiner. A spokesman for the Figueroa family confirmed to reporters at the city medical examiner's office Figueroa's body was pulled from the wreckage.

During the day, workers raked through piles of loose brick and wood, and rescue workers sent search dogs over debris where three apartment buildings once stood.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said after the explosion someone may have tapped a gas line improperly. Consolidated Edison said utility workers had discovered in August the gas line to the restaurant had been tapped illegally. The discovery led Con Edison to shut down gas service to the building for about 10 days while the building owner made repairs. Gas service was restored after the utility deemed it safe, the utility said.

Inspectors from Con Ed visited the building about an hour before Thursday's explosion and determined work to upgrade gas service didn't pass inspection, locking the line to ensure it wouldn't be used and then leaving, officials said. The work under way was to put in a bigger line to serve the entire building, Con Ed President Craig Ivey said.

Fifteen minutes later, the sushi restaurant's owner smelled gas and called the landlord, who called the general contractor, Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said. Nobody called 911 or Con Ed.

The contractor, Dilber Kukic, and the owner's son went into the basement and opened a door, and then the explosion happened, burning their faces, Boyce said.